However, given what I have read so far, I do have a few thoughts concerning 4th Edition.

1. There’s not much to customizing your character’s class.  Once you choose your class, you’re pretty much stuck with a set amount of things you can do.  The biggest problem I’ve noticed is with the fighter.  About every single fighter power depends on a melee weapon.  What ever happened to creating a ranged fighter?
2. Is it feasible anymore to make a dexterity-based ranger that uses two weapons with weapon finesse?  I’ll admit that I haven’t read the feats chapter yet, but given that the powers for rangers who specialize in 2 weapon fighting are dependent on strength, it seems that dexterity melee fighters aren’t all that feasible.
3. Whatever happened to being able to change up your spell list for the in game day?  Not only were wizards able to do this in previous editions, but also clerics, druids, rangers, and paladins.  The only ones who really couldn’t (of the core classes at least) were the sorcerers.  In 4th edition, every spell casting class is limited by the number of powers known, instead of classes like sorcerer.  Furthermore, all spell casting classes are limited to using more powerful spells once per encounter, or even once per day.  Whatever happened to memorizing fireball for multiple uses?!  (However, I have yet to reach rituals, so I don’t know how those go exactly yet.)

Those are so far my thoughts I’ve collected from my own reading of the new ruleset.  I’ve gotten some thoughts and opinions from you guys in comments on previous posts on 4th Edition.  Has anything new come up for you all since then?

[By the way, yes, I'm a day late for this post.  I've been particularly busy lately, from looking for jobs to managing some clan related things for TeamBöNK.  Sorry. ]

Also, for the Dungeon Master, while keeping all the characters in a single group may be a bit easier to manage, it can eventually get a little stale, especially if they’ve been trudging through one dungeon for a very long time.

One tactic I’ve been seeing used very well has been to allow players start their characters off in different places in your campaign world.  By doing this, you allow those characters to have a bit more realistic of a start.  Not only that, but now you essentially have to juggle between different adventures, since characters are now running around without being together.

While this may initially be a bit difficult to manage, it may actually make things easier for you, as the Dungeon Master, to handle.  The one Dungeon Master I’ve been playing with recently has actually told me that it’s easier on him because it brings up a fresh plate for him every time he switches to the next adventuring group.  It’s probably this freshness that helps him come up with new ideas on the fly, since I seem to have this habit of walking or running away from his adventure hooks.

However, multi-party adventuring isn’t just for the DM.  Even though players may be adventuring in different parts of the campaign world, they can still listen to the stories of the other other characters when the turn passes to the other players.

To give you all an example, my character in the most recent campaign I’m playing in started off in the city of Sharn in the Eberron setting.  Meanwhile, another character started in Flamekeep in Thrane, and yet another in Karrlakton in Karnath.

While my character was going around in Sharn stealing stuff, and then fleeing the city to get away from the guard, the character in Thrane was getting conscripted into the army and being sent to invade Karnath.  While all that was happening, the third character was in the middle of the city that was being demolished by an airship battle overhead.

I’ll leave you all to use your imaginations to see how well this can go.  But I hope you can see how awesome doing this can be!

Maybe it’s time for you to get outside then!

Even better, get on a plane and go somewhere new!

Checking Out the Cities
If you’re playing in a classic medieval-style setting, you’re going to want to know how the cities are likely to be built.  They’re definitely not going to be like newer cities, such as Los Angeles or Las Vegas.  Likely, you’re going to find something more appropriate in a city like Boston.  But that’s just in the United States.

If you want to get a more authentic feel of a medieval city, you’ll probably want to try travelling to Europe.  I’m sure London would give you a very good idea of how cities of old were laid out.  Same thing with Rome.  And if there’s a certain medieval style you’re looking for, check out other cities in Europe.  I’m sure Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, and various other cities (even ones that are not capitols) will give you the best ideas you can work with for your D&D campaign.

Of course, D&D is more than just the big cities.  Your players’ characters are bound to end up on smaller towns, and even villages.  So while you’re out travelling, it’ll probably be worth your time to check out those smaller, out of the way areas.

Checking Out Nature
Just as D&D isn’t all about the big cities, it isn’t all about civilization too.  Player characters are bound to be traveling through forests, deserts, and mountains all over the place.  So you can go camping, hiking, or driving around in those same places.  Check out northern California and/or Oregon.  Or you can go to New England, which is loaded with vibrant green forests.

On the other hand, you can drive through areas like Death Valley to get a good feel for what a desert is like.  And if you’re daring, fly over to Africa and check out the Sahara.  Or hang out in one of the middle eastern nations, though I wouldn’t recommend it with the mess over there right now.

As for the mountains, I’d say pick your favorite moutain range and go hiking.  Though, depending on the kind of mountain region you want to do, it could be a different experience.  The White Mountains in New Hampshire are bound to be a different experience compared to mountains that are found in Arizona.

Broaden Your Horizons
While most of my examples are limited to the United States, I am fully aware that there are many other places throughout the world that would be great places to travel to for inspiration for your D&D campaign.  If you’re able to, or if you live outside the U.S., I highly recommend traveling to the various cities, towns, forests, deserts, and mountains on this Earth.  Or even go sailing across the oceans, if you’re planning on having considerable sea-bound adventures for your players.

Though, just the Dungeon Master going on such trips is one thing.  The Dungeon Master bringing all the players along as well can go to great lengths to enhancing immersion for everyone!

Of course, this may depend on your budget, as well as the budget of your players.  But if you do have a chance to travel around, then it’s very well worth it!

I’ve disabled Wordpress.com Stats on this site for the time being, but I’ll be leaving Google Analytics up.  If you’re using Firefox 3, make sure to get the NoScript plugin.  Then just make sure that you don’t allow Google Analytics to run Javascript.

If you’re already using NoScript and have allowed Google Analytics to run Javascript (as I have done myself), you’ll need to remove it from your list of allowed sites.  You can do this easily by going to Options for NoScript, and finding google-analytics.com.  Once you’ve removed it, you’ll hopefully crash a bit less.

Unfortunately, since the use of Javascript is pretty wide-spread, particularly the use of Javascript used by certain companies, there’s no guarantee that this will stop all the Firefox 3 crashes.  It’s really up to the developers to fix this problems.

Now, with that out of the way, you may be wondering where I was Monday…

Traveling - It Can Be Inspiring
I’ve actually been in New England visiting my family.  And though I had in mind to write a post while I was there, I was simply too busy, as we were going to all sorts of places.  However, my time spent in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts did get my mind boiling with some interesting ideas that can help out Dungeon Masters.  New ideas always helps, and new ways to get ideas can help even more.

So expect a post soon, on Monday, about getting some ideas from the world!

Sorry for the delay in today’s post everyone.

Anyhow, I have had the chance to pick up the core books of 4th Edition last week. I’ll admit, the cover art is pretty. I guess that’s something Wizards of the Coast will generally get right.

As for the actual game system…
Wow, it’s really different. When creating a character, you basically get NO penalties to anything unless you rolled a low ability score. So no penalties on ability scores or anything because of a race or class you choose. While it may make it easier to bring new people into the fold, I think it may make things a bit more unbalanced.

But then, as far as balancing goes, it seems that every single race is over-powered. Everyone gets a +2 bonus to two ability scores except for humans, who get to choose one ability score that gets the +2 bonus.

So far, it seems like 4th Edition may be a power-gamer’s paradise. And I’m not fond of power-gamers at all. So it appears that it may be more difficult to create encounters that are actually challenging, aside from just throwing more monsters and etc. at the players.

Some of you may have noticed a conversation I’ve been having with LokyCat in the comments of the List of Reviews for 4th Edition. It seems like he’s been trying to get into and even like 4th Edition, but it’s just too foreign compared to what 3rd Edition was. Feel free to click the link to head over to the post, and scroll down to the comments to read his full thoughts on the matter.

Anyways, I’m sorry again for not getting a post up sooner today. I guess with so much happening at once time just kind of flew right on by.

Admittedly, I haven’t been out to grab the core rulebooks yet myself. When I finally do, I’ll be sure to read them and run a quick game so I can give you all my own opinions about it. But until then, I figure I’ll share some opinions I’ve found around the net.

First off, there’s the general information about 4th Edition to be found on EN World. If you’re just looking for more generic information, I think you can find what you need there.

But of course, I’m sure you want actual reviews! There seems to be a mix of positive and negative reviews, which is interesting. So here are a few to tickle your curiosity:

• AICN World Exclusive: Massawyrm Has Played Dungeons And Dragons 4th Edition!!
• New D&D Rolls a 20 for Playability
• D&D 4th Edition Experience
• 4th edition D&D - a review
• 4E Test Drive (And some comments on Paizo’s forums!)
• Review: D&D 4th Edition

From the looks of it, beginners love 4th Edition because of how much easier it is. However, veterans seem to have a dislike for it, though they can see how it can be good because of how easy it can be to learn.

However, I think the buck may stop at the newly launched Gnome Stew, headed by Martin Ralya of Treasure Tables fame!

• A GM’s First Impressions of D&D 4e: Looks Like Fun
• D&D 4e: Answers to Gnome Stew Readers’ Questions

With the kind of authority that I would consider Martin Ralya to have, I would put some heavy weight on his opinion. Perhaps 4th Edition isn’t quite like the D&D of old, but if it’s a lot of fun for everyone involved and it encourages more roleplaying than fiddling with rules, then I’m all for it.

Though 4th Edition is brand-spanking new, I still think that 3.5 is still going to be relevant for quite some time. I’ve noticed in one of the reviews that Paizo is still creating material for 3.5, and even expanding on it (I’ve found one comment calling it more like 3.75 Edition).

Overall, it seems like a manner of taste. if you’re a glutton for rules, I’d say stick with 3.5. But if you prefer ease of play, and being able to get newcomers into it quickly, easily, and have fun, 4th Edition may be the better way to go.

Interestingly enough, the original release schedule that Wizard’s had planned to do involved releasing the Player’s Handbook in May, the Monster Manual in June (this month), and the Dungeon Master’s Guide in July. However, it seems that somewhere along the line Wizards of the Coast changed their mind, and are now releasing all three books tomorrow! (This is at least according to Amazon.com)

There are a slew of supplements already planned for release though, such as the Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide which is slated for a September release. And for you collectors, deluxe editions of 4th edition books will be available in late October.

So tomorrow, go out and get your 4th Edition books and get reading! Then if there’s a Game Day location nearby, go give them a visit and have fun!

If you haven’t read them yet, you should read Beginner’s Guide Part 1 and Beginner’s Guide Part 2. Also, you’ll only need to read part 3 if you’ve created a character that uses magic. If you’re a fighter, barbarian, monk, or rogue then you can probably safely ignore this article. However, even if your character doesn’t inherently use magic, this part of the guide can still be of some help to you.

Kinds of Magic
First of all, you’ll need to know that there are two different kinds of magic in D&D. First, there’s Divine Magic, which is usually derived from some sort of spiritual source. The other is Arcane Magic, which is derived from the caster or general ether.

One of the greatest benefits to Divine Magic is that there’s no penalty to casting it if you’re wearing any kind of armor. Since it’s being provided by some external source, there’s no need to go through precise motions to make it work. However, you may be a bit limited in what you can cast as a Divine Spell caster.

Arcane Magic offers a wide variety of spells that your character can use. However, these spells are going to require very precise motions or incantations to work. Because of this, if your arcane caster happens to be wearing any kind of armor, spells will have a chance to fizzle out. This is because armor will interfere with the spell-casting process.

How Much Is Enough?
Second, each spell-casting class can only cast so many spells each day. You can find Spells Per Day as part of the table that shows the stats for each level of your chosen class. You’ll notice that Spells Per Day is separated out by spell level. So at a given class level, your character will be able to cast spells of a certain level so many times per day.

However, in addition to the numbers given, you may be able to cast a few extra spells, depending on how high you spell casting ability score is. You can find out what ability score determines you casting ability by looking in the Abilities section of Game Rule Information for your class. Once you know which score it is, refer to Table 1-1 on page 8 of your Player’s Handbook. You’ll notice that the table includes Bonus Spells by Spell Level. Just match up the appropriate ability score on the left, and then follow along the row for each spell level.

However, you only get those bonus spells of a given level if the entry in Spells Per Day is at least zero. If it’s just a dash (-), then you can’t get those bonus spells yet.

Limited Knowledge
While every spell-casting class has a limit on how many spells they can cast in a day, some classes are also limited to the number of spells they can know! The bard and sorcerer classes are the two you’ll find in the Player’s Handbook that have this kind of limitation. In the class description, you’ll find a table titled Spells Known for your particular class. This can put a significant limit on your flexibility with casting, depending on the kind of character you’re trying to create.

Though while most spell-casting classes don’t have the limit that bards and sorcerers have, they too may also be limited. In Chapter 11 of the Player’s Handbook, you’ll find lists of spells for each spell-casting class. Those spells that are listed are the only ones available to be learned by your character as long as s/he is of that class. However, these lists coincide with the kind of magic that you would expect to be cast by a character of that class.

A unique limit I’d like to bring some attention to is with the Cleric. All clerics have a single domain spell slot available at each spell level. As mentioned in the Player’s Handbook, a Cleric can choose 2 domains. In chapter 11, you’ll find lists of spells for each domain that’s available based on the deities provided. However, each level on the list has only 1 spell.

The domain spell slot on a cleric can only be used to hold a spell that’s on one of your character’s two domain lists, and only of the specified level (or lower).

Simpler Spells Come Easily
Finally, you should know that you do not have to place a spell of a certain level into a matching level spell slot. You can actually fill in that higher level spell slot with a spell that’s lower level, if you wish. Basically, the level of a spell slot you have is really the maximum level of a spell you can put in there for the day.

So say you have 3 level 1 spell slots, and 2 level 2 spell slots. If you don’t like any of the level 2 spells you have so far, or just have only use for casting a single level 2 spell once, you can use the level 2 slots(s) to store your favorite level 1 spells instead. At least in this way, you can have much more flexibility with your spells. However, being able to cast lower level spells more often means sacrificing on casting more powerful spells. But sometimes this can be more of a blessing than a curse.

The Magic Is Done!
This pretty much concludes how to create a D&D character, even one that uses magic. I hope this 3-part series helped you or a friend create a D&D character! Now it’s time to head out and do some adventuring!

However, if anything was left unclear for you, please feel free to ask any questions. You can ask them in a comment in this post, or you can contact me via the Contact link at the top.

So to help alleviate the pain of creating a D&D character, I thought I’d share a few free character generators!

First, a couple that will run right in your web browser are:

• Javascript D&D 3.5 Character Generator (Lite Version also available)
  
• 3.5 D&D Character Generator

Just make sure you have Javascript enabled for whichever one you use, otherwise it won’t work.

Then there’s the fairly popular, but moderately complex, open-source, and award-winning character generator:

• PCGen

Of course, these generators can help both beginners and veterans alike. It’ll make the process a bit more easy for the beginner, while the veteran can fly through character creation and be ready to play in relatively quick order. They can also make management of your character a tad easier as well, particularly PCGen, as you can go back and edit your character whenever you level up.

While these character generators are about the only ones that come to mind, I’m sure there are others. If you have a favorite character generator that’s not one of the above, please share it in a comment!

If you haven’t read part 1 of the Beginner’s Guide to Creating A D&D Character, you should definitely do that first, since the material I’ll be covering here is going to depend on the stuff I covered in the previous article. Otherwise, let’s continue on!

Choose Your Skills
Just as we all have skill sets that we use for our jobs and other things, so do our D&D characters. The skills you choose to focus on for your character is going to largely define who your character is. So if you want a stealthy character, then you’d want to focus on skills that would help you move around undetected. Likewise, if you want a scholar, you’d want to focus on skills around knowledge.

However, the skills you’ll be able to choose are going to depend on what class you chose for your character. Fortunately, the skills for each class fit well for them. For example, the skills a rogue can choose focus on stealth, theft, and guile. However, the skills for a fighter focus more on what he could use in combat.

However, you’re not directly tied to your class’s skills. You can choose most skills that are not on your class skill list to focus on as well. However, you’ll have to spend double the amount of points on them to raise them up one rank. The maximum that a cross-class skill can be is also half of what a class skill would be.

Also, each class gets a different amount of skill points to spend. Some classes tend to be more skill-intensive whereas others you’ll hardly even use skills. To find out what skills are considered to be class skills, and also to find out how many skill points you get, look for the Class Skills section for your class. There’s also a table that shows which skills are class skills for each class on page 63 in the Player’s Handbook, which might be easier to look at than the paragraph block on the class description page.

The last thing I want to point out is that there is a maximum to the number of ranks you can have in a skill. For class skills, it’s 4 at first level, 5 at second level, 6 at third, and so on. It’s half of that for cross-class skills though, so 2 at first, 2.5 at second, 3 at third, etc. There are a couple mathematical formulas that make this a bit easy though:

• Class Skills: 3 + Your Character’s Level
• Cross-Class Skills: (3 + Your Character’s Level) / 2

Now even though you’ll have half a rank for a cross-class skill at times, you’ll be dropping the .5 whenever you add it to a roll. Still, you should keep the .5 marked there, so that you know how much you’ve spent on that skill already.

You’ll notice on your character sheet that there’s columns for Ranks, Ability Modifiers, and Miscellaneous Modifiers for each skill, as well as the Ability Score that skill is tied to. Of course, the ranks are dependent on the skill point you’ve spent for the skill, as was discussed above. The Ability Modifier would of course be dependent on the ability score tied to the skill. Just take that appropriate modifier and copy it over. The misc modifier can be from any number of sources, such as racial features, class features, and even feats. All those things are added up to give you your overall Skill Modifier, which is what you’ll add to your d20 roll whenever you do a skill check.

However, before we even get to feats, there’s a couple things I want to point out…

Racial Traits & Class Features
In a way, these can be considered Feats that you get just for choosing the race and class that you did. And just as Feats can have various effects on your character, so can traits and features.

Sometimes you can get a bonus, or penalty, to an ability score. Sometimes you’ll get a bonus, or penalty, to particular skills. You can even get extra skill points, or even extra feats! And sometimes they can have more unique effects.

You’ll find Racial Traits listed as part of the race description for your chosen race. Likewise, you’ll find your Class Features listed under the class you’ve chosen. Make sure to mark them down in an appropriate place on your character sheet, especially if it includes space just for traits and features. If they modify things, make sure to mark those changes! For ability scores, just add or subtract the appropriate amount, and use the final result as your permanent ability score. For pretty much everything else, look for a Misc Modifier column or box, and fill in the modifier there.

Feats, the Special Treats
Yes, that was probably a bad rhyme. Feel free to slap me in a comment at the end of this post.

As I mentioned above, Feats can have several different effects on your character. They can increase some skills, give you bonuses to hit, make it easier for you to wield certain weapons or wear certain armor, or even just add in new abilities that you can use.

However, most feats will have some sort of prerequisite that you’ll need to meet in order to take it. It’ll be noted in description for the feat in Chapter 5 in the Player’s Handbook.

Once you choose a feat, make sure to write it down in the area on your character sheet that’s set aside just for them. Some character sheets give you a LOT of room to write them down, including brief description, page number, etc. Other character sheets hardly give any room, though I still recommend jotting down the page number just in case.

Now that you’ve marked down your feats, as well as everything else, and marked down any modifiers it may have given you (and done the appropriate math), you’re mostly done with the more technical portion of creating a character!

However, I don’t think a nude character would fare too well in a dark, damp dungeon.

Equipment!
Everyone needs to have something to help them out while adventuring. Just as a computer programmer without a computer is practically worthless, so is a fighter without a weapon, and so is a wizard without spell components.

However, equipment requires cash. And you’re going to need some cash to get started. So take a look at Page 111 in the Player’s Handbook, and you’ll find table 7-11: Random Starting Gold. So find your class, roll the number of dice it indicates, and multiply if it’s noted there. That will be how much gold your character gets to start out with.

Thankfully, currency in D&D is generally in tens. So 10 silver equals one gold, and 10 copper equals one silver. Likewise, 10 gold equals one platinum. You’ll find a table that describes coins on page 112, table 7-2.

You’ll find weapons, armor, and other adventuring gear and services throughout Chapter 7 of the Player’s Handbook. There are some very handy tables in that chapter that makes life easy, since they’ll hold all the stats you’ll need for weapons, armor, etc.

Once you’ve chosen a weapon, all you need to do is just copy its stats down onto your character sheet. Then for the attack bonus, just copy over the appropriate one, using melee for melee weapons, and ranged for ranged weapons. Also, one note on melee weapons, if you have a modifier to your strength score, add that to your damage for melee weapons! So in the case of a +2 modifier, and you buy a longsword, your total damage will actually be 1d8+2.

One final note on weapons: they come in two sizes. Normally you’d use the size for Medium (M) sized creatures. However, since some races are Small (S), normal-sized weapons are rather large for them. So there are smaller versions of those weapons just for the small folk. True, the smaller weapons don’t do as much as their normal-sized counterparts, but at least they can be wielded with much more ease.

The next big thing to worry about aside from weapons is armor. Just as with weapons, there’s a handy table that has all the stats you’ll need. However, keep an eye on the Maximum Dexterity Bonus, Armor Check Penalty, and Speed. The bulkier the armor, the more it can slow you down! So your Dexterity Bonus may temporarily be lower than what it normally would be while you wear that armor. Also, if your movement speed is normally 30 ft., you may end up moving more slowly than normal while wearing the armor.

Meanwhile, certain skills can be adversely effected while wearing armor, such as climbing, jumping, swimming, etc. Such skills are typically marked on your character sheet for easy reference. The armor check penalty for whatever armor you’re wearing takes effect whenever you use one of those marked skills while wearing that armor. This can prove deadly for your character in some situations, especially if swimming!

Lastly, if you’re character is of a class that uses arcane magic, you’ll need to pay attention to the Arcanne Spell Failure Chance. The bulkier the armor your character’s wearing, the harder it is to weave arcane magic. Every time you cast a spell, you’ll have a percentage chance of that spell fizzling out, instead of actually being cast. This is the primary reason why you usually don’t see wizards and sorcerers not wearing any kind of armor.

Finally, as far as armor goes, worn armor and shields stack. So whatever benefits and penalties you get with them add up. So a wizard would be in really bad shape if he were wearing half-plate and carrying a tower shield. In fact, he’d be lucky if he can cast anything, since his spells would simply fizzle out 90% of the time!

After weapons and armor, there’s a bunch of miscellaneous items and services that can still be useful to your character. I’ve heard of some people getting very creative with seemingly random adventuring gear, so definitely keep your mind open!

Almost Done!
In fact, if you’ve chosen a class that has nothing to do with magic at all, you are done! Congratulations!

However, if you’ve chosen a spell casting class, such as Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard, Bard (I think that’s all of them in the Player’s Handbook) then you’ll have a bit more to do. Besides, all spell casters need to know their spells!

However, before I leave you off, I do want to point out a free resource that everyone can use to create a character sheet. That would be the official D20 Source Reference Documentation. Now, it may sound a bit complicated, but it’s really the same material you’d find in the printed D&D books, just without the pretty pictures.

You can find the 3.5 SRD at:

• Wizards of the Coast 3.5 SRD
• The Hypertext d20 SRD

The stuff you’ll find on Wizard’s site are a bunch of RTF documents, which can be opened in your favorite word processing program, such as MS Word, OpenOffice, or even Mac word processing programs (sorry, I’m not as familiar with them ).

The Hypertext d20 SRD, though, has all of that in easy to read web pages. It’s very well organized to boot, so I highly recommend giving it a shot!

Meanwhile, I’ll see all you spell casters again next week, so I can help you fill out your magical repertoire!

Update: Part 3 is available, for those of you making spell-casting characters!  So check it out for all your divine and arcane magical needs!